KYIV: Ukraine launched a new postage stamp to support its Olympic athletes as it sent its smallest-ever national team to the Paris Games amid the war with Russia which is nearing the 29-month mark.

Only 140 Ukrainian athletes will compete at the Olympic Games in Paris, the smallest number in the history of Ukraine’s participation in the Games.

Russia’s invasion killed athletes and coaches, forced many to flee the fighting and damaged sports facilities. Frequent air raid alerts and extended power blackouts caused by Russian bombardments interrupt training.

“We have spent countless hours without electricity, without water, in darkness, in cold, in heat. I think we have gone through everything,” Vlada Kharkova, a fencer, told Reuters as she and other athletes gathered with officials to launch Ukraine’s Olympic postage stamp in the centre of Kyiv late on Friday.

“These conditions made us stronger and we are ready to show the whole world that despite everything we are Ukrainians, and we are unbreakable as the Ukrainian nation.

A set of six postage stamps features sports in which Ukraine has previously won awards and medals, including fencing, judo, tennis, canoeing, weightlifting and shooting.

Data from Ukraines Sports Ministry showed that 479 athletes and coaches have been killed since the start of Russia’s invasion in February 2022. More than 500 sports facilities have been destroyed, including 15 Olympic training bases.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus should be banned from international competition but it has since allowed them to qualify for the Paris Games as neutrals.

A total of 25 athletes from Russia and Belarus have been cleared to compete at the Paris Olympics, which open on Friday.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2024